Alumni & Family Engagement

Emery Max graduated from Hope College in 2012 with a Bachelor of Science in exercise science and psychology. After Hope College he went to Michigan State University. He earned his master’s degree in 2014 and then his doctorate in 2017. During his time at Michigan State University, he worked as a graduate guest researcher and lecturer, presented research findings at multiple international conferences, developed and taught a number of upper-level undergraduate courses, provided technical training for other instructors, and served as a guidance committee member for several graduate students. Max also authored several peer-reviewed publications and textbook chapters on exercise psychology, motivation, and group dynamics. Additionally, he served as project manager in the Exergames Research Laboratory on a grant funded by National Institutes of Health. After graduate school, Max founded Paragon Fitwear, which is an e-commerce brand specializing in fitness apparel designed for women in and out of the gym. This brand is fully owned by Hope graduates and has original apparel design, development, production, marketing and worldwide distribution. They are a carbon-neutral brand and pledge to give 1% of profits to good causes as part of the Better World Pledge. Emery Max is setting the standard for quality, affordable and ethical women’s activewear. We are proud of his efforts and the work he is doing to make changes in the world. 

Hope College is proud to honor Emery Max ’12 with the 2021 10 Under 10 Award. The “10 Under 10 Awards” honors emerging leaders who are making significant contributions by living out their callings; engaged in the local and global community through professional and/or volunteer involvement; and use their education to think about important issues with wisdom and clarity, communicate effectively to bridge boundaries that divide human communities and act as agents of hope living faithfully into their vocations. Designed for alumni who are within 10 years of graduation, they are presented by the Hope College Alumni Association. Make a nomination today! 

Divya Dhaliwal graduated from Hope College in 2014 with a bachelor’s degree in business administration and management. Dhaliwal started as a digital media analyst for General Motors in 2015 where she trained global teams on dashboard automation and innovative techniques in Global General Motors analytics summit. After various positions at different automotive companies, in 2018 Dhaliwal co-founded The Collective at Mindshare. Here she spearheaded the launch of Mindshare’s first agency-wide intersectionality initiative to address the power of inclusivity and representation through media editorial provocations, industry events and a quarterly speaker series. This led to her being the associate director in marketing sciences (Youtube and Google Portfolio) at PHD Media. She served as the client-facing analytics lead across the YouTube and Google Apps divisions, overseeing campaigns from proposal to final delivery.

In 2014 she founded Beautifully Invincible, a blog that shares content to an audience of over 32,000 people across platforms. Dhaliwal oversees content creation and creative messaging distribution. She led a series of panel talks; educated marketers and brand leaders on the evolution of influencer marketing, personal branding and the power of storytelling in a digital age. She also collaborated with brands including Google and New York Fashion Week. Most recently Dhaliwal has founded another company called Dreamer & Doers. This organization is a highly curated, female-focused, collaboration and co-mentorship community, consisting of an ever-growing powerful network of entrepreneurs, investors, and advisors. Along with Dreamers & Doers, she does freelance consulting on web design, creative consulting, strategy services to brands/influencers and marketing strategies. Divya Dhaliwal has accomplished a lot in seven years since Hope College. We are proud of her innovative and creative mind and how she shares her talents with others.

• 

• 

Hope College is proud to honor Divya Dhaliwal ’14 with the 2021 10 Under 10 Award. The “10 Under 10 Awards” honors emerging leaders who are making significant contributions by living out their callings; engaged in the local and global community through professional and/or volunteer involvement; and use their education to think about important issues with wisdom and clarity, communicate effectively to bridge boundaries that divide human communities and act as agents of hope living faithfully into their vocations. Designed for alumni who are within 10 years of graduation, they are presented by the Hope College Alumni Association. Make a nomination today!

Karly Murphy graduated from Hope College in 2011 with a Bachelor of Science in psychology. After her graduation from Hope College she worked as a volunteer research assistant at Grand Valley State University. She then moved across the country to the Pacific Northwest to start on her doctorate at Seattle Pacific University. She started as an undergraduate teaching assistant, and then became a clinical research assistant at the Fred Hutchinson Comprehensive Cancer Center. Murphy graduated with her Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from Seattle Pacific University. In 2017 she began working as a predoctoral intern in clinical psychology on behavioral medicine track at the University of Florida Health Sciences Center. Karly Murphy is now working as an NCI-funded postdoctoral fellow in cancer prevention and control at Wake Forest Baptist Comprehensive Cancer Center. She is passionate about research and finding answers to the world’s questions. We are proud of Karly Murphy and the impact she is making. 

• 

• 

• 

Hope College is proud to honor Karly Murphy ’11 with the 2021 10 Under 10 Award. The “10 Under 10 Awards” honors emerging leaders who are making significant contributions by living out their callings; engaged in the local and global community through professional and/or volunteer involvement; and use their education to think about important issues with wisdom and clarity, communicate effectively to bridge boundaries that divide human communities and act as agents of hope living faithfully into their vocations. Designed for alumni who are within 10 years of graduation, they are presented by the Hope College Alumni Association. Make a nomination today!

Brandon Siakel graduated from Hope College with a Bachelor of Science in exercise science. After his graduation, Siakel went to Michigan State University for two years to work as a graduate assistant in strength and conditioning coach for Olympic Sports. After he earned his master’s in kinesiology and exercise science, he began his fellowship as an assistant strength and conditioning coach for United States Olympic & Paralympic Committee. Siakel worked as an assistant for three years and in 2016 he was promoted to a strength and conditioning coach for winter sports for the United States Olympic and Paralympic Committee teams. Brandon Siakel is dedicated to his athletes. He works hard to give them the best care he can and we are proud of his commitment.

• What was an impactful experience you had as a student at Hope?
  • The Vienna summer school orchestrated by Dr. Hemenway. It was my first time getting out of the United States and being exposed to another culture outside of my norm. It opened my eyes to the world outside of the United States and Michigan.
• To you, what makes Hope special?
  • The word that comes to my mind when I think of Hope College is CARING. The faculty, student-body, and surrounding community genuinely care about each others’ well-being and will go out of their way to support one another.    
• What is your current job title? In your own words, describe what you do.
  • My current job title is strength and conditioning coach for the United States Olympic and Paralympic Committee. I work with Team USA winter sport athletes to prepare them physically to assist with their competitive goals and the demands of their sport.
• What do you love about your chosen career?
  • I am fortunate to be able to work with some of the best athletes and coaches in their respective sports, in addition to being integrated within multi-disciplinary performance teams. The relationships and collaborative teamwork that drive high-performance is what I love the most.
• What was your favorite food at Phelps?
  • I liked to treat myself with the following concoction: soft-served ice cream in a glass + chocolate milk filled + oreo pieces + mix it all together. That was delicious!
• Which class would you want to retake if you could? Why?
  • Human Anatomy Lab. I would take this again because I utilize anatomy everyday in my profession. Also, seeing and actively doing are forms of learning that resonate with me the most. The lab setting allowed me to do these two things effectively.
• What is your hope for Hope’s future?
  • My hope is that the Hope Forward tuition model President Scogin is spearheading comes to full fruition. It has the chance to alter the financial landscape of higher education in the United States, which can positively impact the lives of many.

Hope College is proud to honor Brandon Siakel ’11 with the 2021 10 Under 10 Award. The “10 Under 10 Awards” honors emerging leaders who are making significant contributions by living out their callings; engaged in the local and global community through professional and/or volunteer involvement; and use their education to think about important issues with wisdom and clarity, communicate effectively to bridge boundaries that divide human communities and act as agents of hope living faithfully into their vocations. Designed for alumni who are within 10 years of graduation, they are presented by the Hope College Alumni Association. Make a nomination today! 

Anysie Ishimwe graduated in 2016 with a degree in business management and psychology. She began her career as a staffing specialist at Haworth, Inc. and she was selected as a Global Health Corps fellow, a leadership development fellowship founded by Barbara Bush. During her fellowship, she worked as a partnerships coordinator at Gardens for Health International to implement nutrition programs in 104 schools in four provinces in Rwanda. She also established a women’s social group that brings together women at all levels of the organization to discuss issues that hinder their progress. After her year-long fellowship, Anysie joined Karisimbi Business Partners, a management consulting firm, as a senior business analyst. During her time, she was able to work on various strategic advisory engagements for clients in banking, health, manufacturing, education, etc. One of her notable achievements during that role was developing a turnaround strategic plan for a maternal health clinic giving neonatal care for an underserved community in Kigali. Anysie currently works as a country manager for Genesis Energy, a renewable energy firm working to provide alternative sources of power to commercial and industrial clients.

Anysie Ishimwe is using her talents to build better businesses in her community and we are proud of her and her contributions.

What was an impactful experience you had as a student at Hope?

• Participating in the Center for Leadership’s consulting program was a great opportunity to apply what I was learning from both my business and psychology majors towards real life cases. In the process, I also had the privilege of being mentored by knowledgeable people such as Dr. VanderVeen, Mary Ellen Kettelhut, and Jim Cnossen. 
• One project I would highlight was when our team worked on a semester long project to help Gordon Food Service improve their e-commerce platform, and presented our recommendations to the management team at the end of the semester. Such experiences challenged me to constantly think about how what I am learning can be applied to solve problems outside the classroom.

To you, what makes Hope special?

• The faculty really cares about the students. I knew I could walk into any professor’s office and discuss challenges I was having with the academic material or ask for guidance as I discerned my future. I also appreciate that have been able to keep in touch with some of my professors and it’s been five years since I graduated. 
• Another thing I would say that makes Hope special is the sense of community. The environment is friendly and welcoming to students with different needs and backgrounds.

What is your current job title? In your own words, describe what you do.

• Country Manager. I am helping a foreign renewable energy company set up their operations in Rwanda. Our subsidiary is still in its start-up phase, so my job consists of leading business development efforts; hiring as the team grows; managing relationships with existing clients, among other mundane daily tasks.

What do you love about your chosen career?

• I love the diversity of problems that I get to solve every day. It is an engaging world to be in.

What was your favorite food at Phelps?

• Scrambled eggs, sausage, and home fries from the Comfort Corner.

What is a relationship that started at Hope that remains in your life today?

• I met my mentor Emilie while I was at Hope and she remains an instrumental part of my life today.

Which class would you want to retake if you could? Why?

• I would like to retake business computing. It is a class that teaches a specific skill. Whenever I encounter advanced spreadsheet processing in my work, it is not as daunting.

What is your hope for Hope’s future?

• I would like to see students from across the globe attend Hope in increased numbers. I would also want to see increased need based scholarship opportunities for incoming students, as well as opportunities for alumni to play a role in making that happen.

Hope College is proud to honor Anysie Ishimwe ’16 with the 2021 10 Under 10 Award. The “10 Under 10 Awards” honors emerging leaders who are making significant contributions by living out their callings; engaged in the local and global community through professional and/or volunteer involvement; and use their education to think about important issues with wisdom and clarity, communicate effectively to bridge boundaries that divide human communities and act as agents of hope living faithfully into their vocations. Designed for alumni who are within 10 years of graduation, they are presented by the Hope College Alumni Association. Make a nomination today! 

Molly Skawski graduated from Hope College in 2015 with her degree in social work and shortly after began pursuing a master’s of social work at Washington University in St. Louis. In 2017 Skawski began working as a foster care case manager at Children’s Home and Aid. There she managed a caseload of children in need of care. In 2018, she went abroad and worked as a therapeutic residential worker at Olive House Children’s Home, The Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea in London, England. She worked to create and manage care plans for youth aged 13-18 with social and emotional disorders, provided therapeutic support for youth and advocated for educational, therapeutic and independent-living support services. Currently, Skawski is working as a foster care supervisor at Children’s Home and Aid. She works hard to provide direct clinical and administrative supervision for eighty to one hundred foster care cases concurrently. Molly Skawski has a passion for youth in foster care and helping them in any way she can. We are proud of her and the important work she is doing in the lives of children.

What was an impactful experience you had as a student at Hope?

• Living and working in Philadelphia for a semester as a part of my social work practicum. I had the opportunity to live with Hope College students, as well as students from other colleges, in such an amazingly diverse city. 

To you, what makes Hope special?

• Relationships make Hope special. The relationships with roommates, classmates, professors, and staff, from coaches to campus ministries staff, seem to have a depth at Hope that is incomparable to the experience of friends who attended different institutions.

What is your current job title? In your own words, describe what you do.

• My current job title is foster care supervisor. I supervise a team of foster care case managers who work to reunify children in foster care with their biological parents by addressing the safety concerns that brought them into the child welfare system. We work really hard to keep kids safe, and to put broken families back together. Sometimes, that means helping to re-create family for children who cannot go home for a variety of reasons.

What do you love about your chosen career?

• Everyday in my work, I see people – both the little people, and the big people, being their bravest, most resilient, grittiest selves. When I tell people that I work in foster care, a lot of people say “I could never do what you do,” and while I know it’s not for everyone, I also know that this work, for me, is nothing short of an absolute privilege. My job allows me to enter in to the innermost parts of people’s lives, often in their lowest, rawest moments, and join them in hoping, and working, for a better version of themselves and their families. A lot of the work feels like climbing uphill against the wind, and the progress is most often measured in only the tiniest of ground covered. And still, I wouldn’t want to be doing anything else. In supervising, I get to do all of that, and I get to watch the lights come on for new workers coming into the field, in just the way the lights came on in my eyes when I started the work. So I guess what I love most about my chosen career, and my current position, is that I get to do a lot of rooting for people- kids, parents, and my team.

What was your favorite food at Phelps?

• Popcorn chicken and mashed potato bowls. Hands down. The real world needs these.

What is a relationship that started at Hope that remains in your life today?

• I met my husband at Hope. We met at a team function between the hockey and lacrosse teams, and the rest is history. In December, we get to become parents together, and couldn’t be more thrilled!

Which class would you want to retake if you could? Why?

• I would re-take my cultural heritage classes and focus more on the opportunity to learn about people and places that are foreign to my own experiences, and focus less on trying to get a good grade and check off the graduation requirements.

What is your hope for Hope’s future?

• I hope that Hope College continues to invest in the expansion of opportunities for the enrollment of students who would otherwise be unable to afford, or access, the Hope College experience. More specifically, I hope that the Hope College education and experience could become more than a pipe dream for the foster youth who I serve. I know countless youth whose lives could be changed for the better by the experiences afforded to Hope College students, and just as well, I believe that the Hope College community could be changed for the better by bringing in more students with diverse life experiences.

Hope College is proud to honor Molly Skawski ’15 with the 2021 10 Under 10 Award. The “10 Under 10 Awards” honors emerging leaders who are making significant contributions by living out their callings; engaged in the local and global community through professional and/or volunteer involvement; and use their education to think about important issues with wisdom and clarity, communicate effectively to bridge boundaries that divide human communities and act as agents of hope living faithfully into their vocations. Designed for alumni who are within 10 years of graduation, they are presented by the Hope College Alumni Association. Make a nomination today!